News
Netflix just made its clearest move yet pursuing VR, gaming
Netflix has released a slew of adaptations of comic and gaming IP, and with over 207.64 million paid and active subscribers it's a pretty big deal for them to start mentioning "opportunity to exclusively produce, stream and distribute feature films as well potential gaming and virtual reality content" in their new deal with Shonda Rhimes. A statement like this doesn't make it into an agreement accidentally, and with the very active Netflix audience any VR content released will have the potential of becoming the most watched VR content on the planet.
Virti Raises $10M to Train Real People With Virtual Humans - Voicebot.ai
Regardless of your learning style (visual, auditory, reading, or kinesthetic) having a guide to take you through a lesson is more effective than self-guided learning for most subjects. So it's no wonder British virtual training startup Virti has closed a $10 million Series A funding round. Having successfully leveraged their platform to train doctors and medical professionals, expanding to other areas seems like a safe investment for any venture capital firm willing to back them.
Oculus Quest Mixed Reality Capture Is NOW EASY - Only 5 Min Setup!
Liv Connect now makes it trivially easy to create Oculus Quest 2 Mixed Reality videos anywhere you want. What used to take hours can now be done in roughly 5 minutes. This video takes you through the basics of setting it up, but be sure to join the TestFlight iOS Beta. It's worth noting that not all VR apps will work but there is a cureated list that gets updated frequently of supported titles.
Experiences
Still Here VR
Available for free on Viveport, this 2020 Sundance selection is an interactive documentary sharing the experience of a woman recently freed from incarceration. The politics of conviction is set aside to highlight the effects of separation from family, and its effects on those returning back to normalcy after years behind bars.
Reading
How Smart Glasses Are Creating a View to the Future
AR eyewear isn't new (see Google Glass and Snap Spectacles), and soon they will be moving from the tech enthusiast market over to the broader consumer market. This article gives a good amount of history and insight into how recent hardware and software advances are advancing smart eyewear into the mainstream.
Conferences
Zappar: AR Pioneers
We missed hearing about this virtual AR summit earlier this year but are happy that everything is online and free to watch. With both creative and strategist tracks open for viewing you'll find a lot of interesting experience and advice being shared by AR industry pioneers.
Research
Virtual reality could solve a century-spanning philosophical mystery
VR research into emotional states yielded very interesting results into the sublime feeling a person gets viewing art in reality versus a representation of that art. Understanding emotion is extremely challenging, and this study's result has made significant strides into bypassing individual aesthetics and tapping into a common, measurable metric.
Gear
Vecnos adds 3D effects to their IQUI 360° camera
The app supporting the slim and colorful vecnos IQUI 360° camera recently added AI enhanced effects that actually sets it apart from other consumer 360° cameras. Facial detection, 3D animated effects (hearts, fireworks, and a few others), Instagram inspired beauty filters, and more features that will enhance 360 videos without the need for additional video editing software. Be sure to check out their "sizzle reel" on YouTube to get a preview of what this update enables creators to do to shoot and share their work even faster.
One More Thing
Virtual Reality Storytelling Workshop with Liz Rosenthal
It's not often that accomplished leaders in the XR space get center stage to discuss their craft, so we're ecstatic that this free storytelling workshop is being offered. Taking place from Thu, Jul 15, 2021, 2:00 PM to Sun, Jul 18, 2021, 5:00 PM EDT, Liz Rosenthal will share her approach to capturing stories that connect with audiences using AR/VR/XR as the medium. She has lead the creation of Venice VR (one of the world's first immersive content tracks within a top tier film festival), Executive Producer of immersive content accelerator program CreativeXR, and is also the CEO & Founder of trail-blazing innovation company Power to the Pixel. We couldn't be more excited to attend and to learn from her experience both as a content creator and helping shape hundreds of successful immersive experiences.
Commentary
This week we were hard at work reaching out to the community of creators and innovators within the AR/VR/MR/XR space securing times for interviews and discussing ways to help highlight their work and to share their views on the current and future potential for the technologies that make modern immersive content so compelling. It's been a lot of work, but some of the best conversations that we've had in years. We're hoping to be in a place to share some of these before the end of 2021, and make good on the promise to launch our podcast this year.
This week's newsletter has some pretty big announcements. They demonstrate adoption of the tools to further our understanding of the human experience, the potential for upcoming VR content from one of the world's largest streaming services, and just how generous artists and content creators are with sharing their process to help others from making the same mistakes. This issue's One More Thing is, like all content we share in this portion of the newsletter, something we're very excited about this week. We won't spoil it, but be sure to check it out.
Thank you for reading and subscribing, and we'll see you next week!
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